Saudi Arabia state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco has resumed oil deliveries to Egypt, which had been suspended since October 2016 due to a geopolitical disagreement on Syria.
Saudi Arabia, which has been steadily supporting Egypt since 2013 (when the Muslim Brotherhood-related president Morsi was overthrown), agreed in April 2016 to deliver 700 kt/month of oil products to Egypt under a more than US$20bn deal. Saudi Aramco cited "special commercial conditions amid fluctuations in international oil prices" to suspend oil deliveries when Egypt supported Russian positions over Syria (Saudi Arabia backs Syrian rebels) in October 2016.
Since 2013, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait have provided more than US$20bn in grants, loans and oil products. Egypt is facing a soaring energy demand and a swelling budget deficit due to massive fuel subsidies, reaching US$15bn/year on average and accounting for nearly 20% of the state budget. The start of new oil and gas projects by 2020 should alleviate the burden of energy imports.